History Main / GiftOfTheMagiPlot

A plot reproducing ''"Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi"'', where two people buy a present for each other -- each gift meant to go with something the other highly values -- and then find that both of them had to sell their respective treasures to pay for each other's gift, making the gifts simultaneously priceless and worthless.

A plot reproducing "Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi", where two people buy a present for each other -- each gift meant to go with something the other highly values -- and then find that both of them had to sell their respective treasures to pay for each other's gift, making the gifts simultaneously priceless and worthless.

Compare TragicallyMisguidedFavor and OuthumblingEachOther. A SisterTrope to ChristmasEveryDay, YetAnotherChristmasCarol, ItsAWonderfulPlot, HowTheCharacterStoleChristmas, AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp, and TheParodyBeforeChristmas. Has nothing to do with TheGift.

* The TropeMaker is Creator/OHenry's ShortStory "Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi". One Christmas, Della sells her long hair to a wigmaker to buy a chain for her husband Jim's heirloom watch, only to discover that Jim pawned the watch to buy combs to pin up her hair. While it's a ShaggyDogStory and there's no indication that Jim ever gets the watch back, the author chooses to focus on the paradoxical wisdom of their ActOfTrueLove, which -- foolish as it was -- proved they loved each other more than they loved their most treasured possessions.

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': [[spoiler: In "Easter Parade", Miss Brooks works during her Spring Break in order in earn money so she can accompany Mr. Boynton to the Easter Parade in a new dress. Meanwhile, Mr. Boynton's working to earn money for a new suit to wear when he takes Miss Brooks to the Easter Parade. Due to TaxDeductions, Miss Brooks doesn't earn enough for the new dress. Mrs. Davis lends her the extra money, and Miss Brooks doesn't learn the money is actually coming from Mr. Boynton. Mr. Boynton no longer has enough money for the new suit and must wear his old one to the parade. Miss Brooks' new dress is messed up when she accidentally sits on a couple of Easter Eggs Mrs. Davis hid under the sofa cushions. So she too goes to the parade in her old dress of which she's positively ashamed.]]

* The TropeMaker is Creator/OHenry's ShortStory "Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi". Della sells her long hair to a wigmaker to buy a chain for her husband Jim's heirloom watch, only to discover on Christmas that Jim pawned the watch to buy her combs for her hair. While it's a ShaggyDogStory and there's no indication that Jim ever gets the watch back, the point is that, DramaticIrony aside, they loved each other more than they loved their most treasured possessions.

* In ''Fanfic/FateRevelationOnline'' (a ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''[=/=]''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' crossover fic), Asuna and her friends discover the ChainOfDeals quest they took has this plot, just with extra intervening steps involved. They don't see the final gift exchange due to [[spoiler:Zolgen eating the wife]]. A follow-up quest reveals the [[spoiler:husband went looking for his wife and was also eaten by Zolgen]].

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* In chapter 4 of ''Manga/FrankenFran'', a high school couple unknowingly swap genitals. The girl [[RapeAsBackstory was raped as a child]] and has an irrational reaction to being touched by a man, and the boy gets a sex change operation for her sake. So does she, and [[BlackComedy it's all treated as a joke at the end.]] [[spoiler: Namely, the girl catches on that intention, and so Fran gives them each other's organs.]]
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', this is part of Hiei's backstory. One of the conditions the demon surgeon made Hiei agree to before implanting Hiei's MagicalEyes was that Hiei could never reveal his true identity to his SeparatedAtBirth sister--the same sister that Hiei wanted to find using the magical eyes. When Hiei meets the surgeon again and has to duel him, the surgeon agrees to rescind the condition if Hiei wins. While Hiei claims that he had no intention of ever revealing himself to his sister, the surgeon believes that actually meeting her might have changed Hiei's mind.
* One of the [[ChristmasEpisode Christmas Chapters]] of ''Manga/PoorPoorLips'' has the characters referencing this story. Ren's mother comes to the conclusion that the moral of the story is "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint People should discuss what presents they plan to get one another]]".

* ''Manga/TheDisastrousLifeOfSaikiK'' features such a plot. Since Saiki's parents have consecutive birthdays, they go out shopping for each other. Saiki's father gets a giant teddy bear, thinking his wife will enjoy using her sewing and craft supplies on it. Saiki's mother gets a display case for her husband's action figures. It later turns out that Saiki's father sold his action figures to pay for the bear, while Saiki's mother got rid of her supplies to make room for the shelf. They're still extremely touched by the gestures, however.

* A single panel in a ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'' comic featuring Grandpa Simpson's garbled Christmas stories shows us Gerald (the baby with the BigOlUnibrow) having sold his eyebrow to a wig maker to buy Maggie a pacifier-cosy when she's sold her pacifier to buy him eyebrow wax. (Yes, they're both preverbal. [[RuleOfFunny Roll with it]].) The story's title is "[[PunBasedTitle Gift of the Maggie]]".
* A strip in a '50s horror anthology has a variation, combined with the legend of Pygmalion. A misogynistic woodcarver is ordered to carve a female figurehead for UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte's flagship, then falls in love with it. To his astonishment, the figurehead briefly comes to life and tells him that she loves him too. Unfortunately, she can only speak once a month while the clock is striking midnight. The woodcarver steals a potion from a gypsy that will turn him into wood so that he can be by his true love's side on the figurehead. Unfortunately, just as he's turning permanently to wood, his beloved turns permanently to flesh and blood - the gypsy's revenge for his theft.
* ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'': For Christmas, Beast Boy bought Cyborg stainless steel custom monogrammed hubcaps for the T-car and says they're for the new tires Cyborg just bought. Unfortunately, Cyborg returned those tires and used the money to buy Raven an antique made of genuine petrified wood from the black forest because her books are taking over her room. Ironically, she sold some of her books to buy Starfire a food processor in hopes it'll help her cook better. Cyborg even brings up ''Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi'' to describe the situation.

-->'''Aladdin and Jasmine:''' ''[to each other]'' I wanted to get you a gift.\\

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'': In Issue #43 of the comic, the Warner siblings give Plotz accessories for his Ferrari. Dot gave an air freshener, Wakko gave a pink, fuzzy steering-wheel cozy, and Yakko gave sexy lady mudflaps. Unfortunately, for Plotz, Wakko sold the Ferrari's tires to buy the cozy, Dot sold the steering wheel to buy the air freshener, and Yakko sold the frame to buy the mudflaps.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Retail}}'', Cooper [[http://retailcomics.com/comic/december-25-2011/ has a dream]] that he cancels his cellphone plan to buy Val a silver hair pick, and she sells her hair to buy him a smartphone.

* Inverted in Creator/PhilipKDick's "Oh to Be a Blobel!" This story happens in the aftermath of a war between Earth and Titan. Earth has humans, Titan has [[BlobMonster Blobels]], and spies in the war are made {{Involuntary Shapeshifter}}s. After the war, a human and Blobel spy decide to get married as they are able to spend most of the day in the same form. Their nature causes them a lot of anguish and problems which eventually leads to them filing for divorce. The Blobel wife, in order to save their marriage, decides to undergo a new medical treatment which turns her permanently human. But the human husband has already left to pursue a business opportunity on another planet, and in accordance with the local laws had himself turned permanently into a Blobel...

* In ''Literature/ThePrincessDiaries'', Mia sells one of her Buffy figurines to get her boyfriend something. Her boyfriend sold the thing that her present to him was supposed to compliment to get her the last figurine in her collection. Whoops.

* Subverted in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'', when the Dean gives the Bursar a box to keep his dried frog pills in. The Bursar, naturally, doesn't have any pills to put in it... because the Dean already swiped them from the Bursar's room, so he wouldn't have to shell out any more money to give him a ''full'' pillbox.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Cars}}'' story "The Best Present Ever", Mater longs to go to Kersploosh Mountain for Christmas to try out the one-day ice slide, but Lightning has to go to Russia to compete in an Ice Racers Cup that week. Thus, Mater decides to celebrate early -- he races a customer from Luigi's Casa Della Tires and trades him his junkyard sled for the snow tires he bought; meanwhile, Lightning has called to reschedule the race for the week after Christmas and buys Mater tickets to Kersploosh Mountain. When they receive their presents, they reveal to each other about the switch-up and are upset having left with presents they can't use, but are happy to be best friends and spending Christmas with each other is a true gift. Fortunately, the problem gets resolved at the end when they use the tires to make a new two-person sled so they can go to Kersploosh Mountain after all.
* The final book of ''Literature/TheSaddleClub'' series has a three-way variation between the three members of the eponymous club. All three of them want to ride in a prestigious horse show a few days after Christmas, but it's a seventy-five dollar entry fee, their parents won't or can't pay, and Carole and Stevie are forced to spend their savings on a new bridle and new boots respectively (Carole's bridle was falling apart and Stevie's boots no longer fit), while Lisa didn't have the money to begin with. Meanwhile, SpoiledBrat Veronica [=DiAngelo=] -- who has more money than she knows what to do with -- is openly coveting Stevie's new boots and Carole's new bridle (both of which were the last of each item in the store), and has also missed the deadline to order the application form for the aforementioned show. Come Christmas, it's revealed that each of them sold Veronica something for exactly seventy-five dollars in order to give one of the others the entry fee money as a Christmas gift; Stevie sold Veronica her boots to give Carole the entry fee, Carole sold Veronica her bridle to give Lisa the entry fee, and Lisa sold Veronica her application to give Stevie the entry fee. It ultimately works out for them; the show turns out to be a moot issue because the three of them and the horses get snowed in at Pine Hollow and would have had to miss the show anyway, Stevie and Carole use the money they got to buy back the boots and bridle, and Lisa decides to use her seventy-five dollars to treat the club to something special.
* ''Literature/EmmetOttersJugBandChristmas'' has a variation: Emmet has to put a hole in his mother's washtub, and she has to sell his tools, for both of them to enter a talent contest to win money to buy gifts for each other. The washtub and tools were unrelated to the gifts they had in mind, but they were the only means either of them had to make a living. In a rather depressing variation on the tale, they both lose. [[spoiler: Everything gets resolved when, at the end of the movie, the owner of a local restaurant hires them as his house band.]]

* An episode of ''Series/TheSingleGuy'' has the single guy and one of the female characters encountering this situation, the exact gifts being a Russian Doll and a comic book. In the end, the single guy makes a quip that [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis someone should write a book about this]]. LampshadeHanging, anyone?
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:''
** Parodied and subverted in the "''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S03E21SantaClausConquersTheMartians Santa Claus Conquers the Martians]]''" episode, when TV's Frank gives Dr. Forrester a watch band as a gift but reveals that he paid for it by selling Dr. Forrester's watch. Dr. Forrester then gives Frank a copy of ''Final Exit'' (a controversial book about assisted suicide) and reveals he paid for it by stealing Frank's blood while he slept and then selling it "so I wouldn't have to use my own money". To which Frank responds, "[[ShoutOut Oh,]] [[Creator/OHenry Henry]]!"
** Parodied ''again'' in the ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S05E21SantaClaus Santa Claus (1959)]]'' episode: Frank shaved his head and bought Dr. Forrester a watch fob (one half of the original ''Gift of the Magi'' story), but Dr. Forrester had neglected to buy Frank ''anything''. He tried to save face with a $25 savings bond, but Frank was, to say the least, not pleased with the results. ("My hair! My beautiful head of TV's Frank hair!")

* In the 3rd season ChristmasEpisode of ''Series/SeventhHeaven'', Eric sells his old records to buy a chain for a cross Annie's mother left her, while Annie sells her cross to buy Eric a jukebox. In the end, the pawnshop owner comes over on Christmas morning to set things right.

** Parodied on an SNL Christmas special hosted by Creator/TinaFey and Creator/JimmyFallon. Tina sold something of hers to buy Jimmy an amp for his guitar. When she gives it to him, he mentions that he got her a present as well. Tina says, "Don't tell me you sold your guitar." Jimmy says, "No. Here's your present." [[spoiler: A beer helmet.]]
* ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'' used this plot in a Season 11 ChristmasEpisode. After Barney and his friends decide to do a "Secret Santa" thing, B.J. gets drumsticks for Riff by trading his baseball. Riff, on the other hand, gets B.J. a baseball glove by trading his drum. In the end, Barney (dressed as Santa) returns the items back to the two dinos. To make the reference even more obvious, the episode is titled "Gift of the Dinos".
* Happened between Ponch and Jon on ''Series/{{CHiPs}}'' on the anniversary of them starting to work together. Ponch has been moonlighting on a security job for a movie to earn extra cash. At the end of the episode, he reveals that the extra cash was to buy Jon a new pair of speakers for his stereo. Jon then reveals that he sold his stereo to buy Ponch a new turntable for his own stereo. Ponch then reveals that his side job didn't actually pay enough and he had to sell his stereo too.

* The Playhouse Disney educational skit series ''Series/OutOfTheBox'' presents the fable in its holiday special.
* One of the Net Movies for ''Film/KamenRiderXSuperSentaiXSpaceSheriffSuperHeroTaisenZ'' has the characters trying to figure out how bamboo pole salesmen stay in business; [[Series/SpaceSheriffGavan Gavan's]] suggestion is a riff on this tale, with the young couple played by [[Series/KamenRiderDenO Urataros]] (who sells his pole instead of a watch) and [[Series/BattleFeverJ Miss America]]. [[Series/KamenRiderWizard Rinko Daimon]] considers the story so moving that she declares Gavan's explanation the best.
* Kind of the basis of the ''Series/ICarly'' episode "iDon't Want to Fight", on one side. It's Carly and Sam's 5th friendship anniversary, and Carly gives Sam a Special T-Shirt, while Sam promises to give Cuddlefish concert tickets, so she trades the T-Shirt to [[HighSchoolHustler "Ripoff Rodney"]] for the tickets. Unlike most examples, Carly is furious that Sam would give away her gift, even if it was for something Carly really wanted, and this causes them to be mad at each other the whole episode.
* An interesting variant of the trope happens in ''Series/DoctorWho'' while Creator/PeterCapaldi is the Doctor and Creator/JennaColeman's Clara Oswald is his companion. During the Christmas Special "Last Christmas", the Doctor finds out that Danny Pink, Clara's significant other from the previous season, is permanently dead. Clara reveals that she lied about him being alive so that the Doctor would go home to his planet and continue the search for Gallifrey instead of worrying about her. The Doctor then reveals that he lied about finding Gallifrey so that Clara could live peacefully with Danny instead of galivanting off on adventures with him.

* Swing-rock band Squirrel Nut Zippers' Christmas album ''Christmas Caravan'' features a track called "Gift of the Magi", a straight telling of the original story as a song.

-->"You traded all your paper clips for a soap dish, that way
-->"Your best friend's rubber ducky wouldn't slip and slide away
-->"But he traded all his rubber duck for a cigar box to place your paper clips in"

* ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'': Had a Christmas episode called "Gifts for Madge and Guy" which was basically a (much more hilarious) retelling of the original.[[/folder]]

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', [[spoiler:Slave Knight Gael gives himself to the Dark Soul so that the Painter could use his blood to finish her painting knowing he would be driven insane by it, counting on you to [[ThanatosGambit finish him off and deliver the blood]]. This works...but [[SenselessSacrifice it turns out that]] the Painter was painting the new world because she wanted to give ''Gael'' a new home. Not a completely straight example as the painting would be a home for everyone living in the Painted World.]]

* The original is discussed by Jeanne d'Arc Santa Alter Lily in her debut event in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''. She's not a fan of the ending:
-->Personally, the truly moving moment kinda falls flat! Hair can grow out, but the special family watch is gone forever! From the way the story goes, the husband prolly won't be getting a new watch. And every time the wife uses the combs, she'd feel real bad, and every time the husband sees the combs, he'd feel kinda dumb. And that's bad. 'Course they wanted to be nice, but their gifts didn't make them magi, they made them dummies!

* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' inverts it in the appropriately titled [[http://xkcd.com/506/ "Theft of the Magi"]]. [[{{Jerkass}} Black Hat Guy]] sold his girlfriend's Roomba to buy himself ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', but it turns out his girlfriend had already sold his Xbox to buy herself a harness for her Roomba.
* In ''Webcomic/RoomiesItsWalkyJoyceAndWalky'', Walkerton [[http://www.itswalky.com/comic/merry-christmas-sweetie doesn't quite get it right]]. Although it turns out [[http://www.itswalky.com/comic/fine-ygot-me/ there's a bit more to it than that]].

* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', Torg and Riff buy each other a flannel shirt and a new overcoat... but they both sold their shoulders to science to pay for the other's gift. [[UnreliableNarrator Or that's what Torg says anyway.]] They actually do have their shoulders afterwards ("They grew back.")

* [[http://nedroid.com/2008/12/beartato-135/ This]] ''Webcomic/{{Nedroid}}'' strip has Beartato and Reginald do the trope straight, but then they regret selling their possessions after finding out what happened.
* In ''Webcomic/StubbleTrouble,'' Liasonya the foxtaur sells her hair to buy a gift for her boyfriend. [[http://rennon-the-shaved.deviantart.com/art/Stubble-Trouble-93-147576748 It doesn't turn out so well...]]

* Parodied in the "Geeks of the Magi" arc in ''Webcomic/DorkTower'', where Matt and Igor are both fairly obsessive collectors. They find the perfect capstones to each other's collections, but they'd have to sell their own collections to afford it... except that because neither is actually willing to ''give up'' said collections, Matt raids the rent jar instead and Igor gets the money by stealing blood plasma from Carson and selling it[[note]]where he found a buyer for muskrat blood is a mystery for the ages[[/note]]. Ken [[INeedAFreakingDrink doesn't take it at all well]].
-->'''Carson:''' Happy Haddumah, Merry Cridmid! Why is the room spinning?\\
'''Ken:''' If anyone needs me, I'll be seeking the Spirit of Christmas ''Spirits.'' 98 proof.
* Cruelly parodied in a {{Webcomic/Housepets}} [[http://www.housepetscomic.com/comic/2015/12/28/gift-of-the-gag-i/ one-off strip]]. Bino shaves his fur to buy Duchess a cover for her iPhone. [[UngratefulBastard Duchess gets him a ten dollar gift voucher, then complains that the cover doesn't fit her phone.]]
* In the NSFW ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' strip "Performance Anxiety", a pair of newlyweds each hired a prostitute to give the other a good first time. They end up holding hands and smiling at each other while watching the prostitutes have sex.
---> Wow, look at us go.
* Parodied with ''Webcomic/BugMartini's'' [[https://www.bugmartini.com/comic/the-gift-of-the-magi-part-i/ Gift Of The Magi]] arc.

* Parodied in a ShowWithinAShow in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Idiot Box", during Squidward's ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere sequence: "I couldn't afford a present this year, so I got you this box." "That's what I got you!"
* In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' Christmas special, "The Santa Experience", Angelica [[InvokedTrope puts]] [[HalfIdenticalTwins Phil and Lil]] in a "Gift Of The Magi" Plot situation as part of a prank: she trades Lil a Reptar space helmet to give to Phil in exchange for her favorite coloring book, and takes Phil's Reptar doll in exchange for a box of crayons that he can give to Lil. Upon discovering that bad kids don't get presents, however, Angelica struggles to [[MustMakeAmends fix the situation]], and ultimately [[spoiler:gives them their original presents back as their Christmas gifts]].
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}:'' Zoidberg gave combs to Amy, who sold her hair to buy combs for Hermes, who sold his hair to buy combs for Zoidberg [[RuleOfFunny (who he hates more than anyone, and who is bald)]]. Zoidberg thanks him, saying this will go great with his new hair--then removes his hat to reveal Hermes' and Amy's hair.
--> '''Zoidberg:''' Finally! I look as pretty as I feel!
* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/ReallyScent" saw the object of WesternAnimation/PepeLePew's affections finally realize that Pepe was the only male giving her attention at all. So, in an attempt to make the relationship work, she hung around a limburger factory to gain a bad smell. Meanwhile, Pepe finally realized that it was his stench that had put the cat off and hung around a perfume factory to gain a good smell. The end of the short sees a nice turnaround to the MadLove scenario: the cat chasing the skunk.

* Played with in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' ChristmasSpecial. Jeremy gives Candace a pair of earrings that she wanted (and was going to have her good necklace made into a pair like them), but he sold his guitar (which he was going to trade in for a silver one) to pay for them. Candace, meanwhile, buys the silver guitar by selling her good necklace, so instead of them both losing something they valued for a pointless gift they both ended up with the same things they would have if neither bought any presents at all.
** One comic story in the ''Phineas and Ferb'' magazine has the titular stepbrothers making gifts for each other for National Inventor's Day. Phineas has his wrenches melted down to make a steel carrying case for Ferb's blueprints, while Ferb cuts his blueprints into a pegboard for Phineas' wrenches.
* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' had a great parody of this story- the wife naturally sells her hair to buy a chain for her husband's pocket watch. When we see the husband trying to buy his wife some combs, the shopkeeper suggests he sell his watch to afford them... only for the husband to point out that his watch is an antique in perfect working condition and is worth way, way more than a pair of combs, no matter how fancy. "What are they, solid gold?" [[note]]Actually, it was an assortment of expensive hair accessories that was ''referred to'' as "the Combs" (it was more than just combs), and the story says they were "pure tortoise shell, with jeweled rims", making the gift potentially even ''more'' valuable than gold ones.[[/note]] He buys her some lingerie instead.

* A non-Christmas example happens in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Horseland}}''. Two of the girls, who are siblings, sell clothes that will match things they own for a parade. Unlike the original story, [[spoiler: they solve the problem that the thing that matches each clothing item was sold by having them sell something else that wasn't clothing to buy fabric.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' episode "Opposites", Cyborg and Jinx's respective teams wouldn't allow them to [[DatingCatwoman date]]. Jinx managed to convince the HIVE Five to turn good, but Cyborg convinced the Titans to turn evil, so they were still enemies.

* In the WesternAnimation/{{Squidbillies}} episode "Pile M for Murder," the Cuylers sell all the dirt on their land to buy gas so they can go mudding... in the mud they no longer have.

* Parodied at the end of the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Bri, Robot" where Peter reveals that he took a masseuse job to buy Lois a fancy comb for her hair. Only for Lois to reveal that she is wearing a wig because she sold her hair to buy Peter a bottle of massage oil.
--> '''Peter:''' Great. Now I'm an unemployed masseuse with a bald wife. Merry [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] Christmas.

* In ''Webcomic/RoomiesItsWalkyJoyceAndWalky'', Walkerton [[http://www.itswalky.com/comic/merry-christmas-sweetie doesn't quite get it right]].

-->-- ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', "''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S05E21SantaClaus Santa Claus]]''"

* A single panel in a ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons'' comic featuring Grandpa Simpson's garbled Christmas stories shows us Gerald (the baby with the BigOlUnibrow) having sold his eyebrow to a wig maker to buy Maggie a pacifier-cosy when she's sold her pacifier to buy him eyebrow wax. (Yes, they're both preverbal. [[RuleOfFunny Roll with it]].) The story's title is "[[IncrediblyLamePun Gift of the Maggie]]".

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}:'' Zoidberg gave combs to Amy, who sold her hair to buy combs for Hermes, who sold his hair to buy combs for Zoidberg. Zoidberg thanks him, saying this will go great with his new hair--then removes his hat to reveal Hermes' and Amy's hair.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'' story "The Best Present Ever", Mater longs to go to Kersploosh Mountain for Christmas to try out the one-day ice slide, but Lightning has to go to Russia to compete in an Ice Racers Cup that week. Thus, Mater decides to celebrate early -- he races a customer from Luigi's Casa Della Tires and trades him his junkyard sled for the snow tires he bought; meanwhile, Lightning has called to reschedule the race for the week after Christmas and buys Mater tickets to Kersploosh Mountain. When they receive their presents, they reveal to each other about the switch-up and are upset having left with presents they can't use, but are happy to be best friends and spending Christmas with each other is a true gift. Fortunately, the problem gets resolved at the end when they use the tires to make a new two-person sled so they can go to Kersploosh Mountain after all.

* Used in "My Mom" by Music/KimyaDawson:

* Kind of the basis of the ''Series/ICarly'' episode "iDon't Want to Fight", on one side. It's Carly and Sam's 5th friendship anniversary, and Carly gives Sam a Special T-Shirt, while Sam promises to give Cuddlefish concert tickets, so she trades the T-Shirt to "Ripoff Rodney" for the tickets. Unlike most examples, Carly is furious that Sam would give away her gift, even if it was for something Carly really wanted, and this causes them to be mad at each other the whole episode.

* Parodied and subverted in the "''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S03E21SantaClausConquersTheMartians Santa Claus Conquers the Martians]]''" episode, when TV's Frank gives Dr. Forrester a watch band as a gift but reveals that he paid for it by selling Dr. Forrester's watch. Dr. Forrester then gives Frank a copy of ''Final Exit'' (a controversial book about assisted suicide) and reveals he paid for it by stealing Frank's blood while he slept and then selling it "so I wouldn't have to use my own money". To which Frank responds, "[[ShoutOut Oh,]] [[Creator/OHenry Henry]]!"

Compare TragicallyMisguidedFavor, DoTheyKnowItsChristmasTime, OuthumblingEachOther. A SisterTrope to ChristmasEveryDay, YetAnotherChristmasCarol, ItsAWonderfulPlot, HowTheCharacterStoleChristmas, AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp, and TheParodyBeforeChristmas. Has nothing to do with TheGift.

* Parodied and subverted in the "''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S03E21SantaClausConquersTheMartians Santa Claus Conquers the Martians]]''" episode of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' when TV's Frank gives Dr. Forrester a watch band as a gift but reveals that he paid for it by selling Dr. Forrester's watch. Dr. Forrester then gives Frank a book about death and reveals he paid for it by stealing Frank's blood while he slept and then selling it "so I wouldn't have to use my own money". To which Frank responds, "[[ShoutOut Oh,]] [[Creator/OHenry Henry]]!"

Compare TragicallyMisguidedFavor, DoTheyKnowItsChristmasTime, OuthumblingEachOther. SisterTrope to ChristmasEveryDay, YetAnotherChristmasCarol, HowTheCharacterStoleChristmas, AlwaysNeedWhatYouGaveUp, TheParodyBeforeChristmas, and ItsAWonderfulPlot. Has nothing to do with TheGift.

If the Magi themselves show up bearing gifts, see TheThreeWiseMen.

A plot reproducing "Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi", where two people buy a present for each other -- each gift meant to go with something the other highly values -- and then find that both of them had to sell their respective treasures to pay for the other's gift, making the gifts simultaneously priceless and worthless.

->'''Frank:''' I shaved my head and got you a watch fob.\\

'''Frank:''' ...''Sold'' my hair? No.

* In ''Webcomic/StubbleTrouble,'' Liasonya the foxtaur sells her RapunzelHair to buy a gift for her boyfriend. [[http://rennon-the-shaved.deviantart.com/art/Stubble-Trouble-93-147576748 It doesn't turn out so well...]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "White Christmas Blues", Lisa gives Bart a book for Christmas, not because she knew he would like it, but because she wanted to make herself feel good, which he calls her out on while burning said book. Lisa later makes up for it by buying Bart a kindle, which she got by selling the gift Bart had given her. She states she got the idea from a book, "The Gift of Magi" which she downloaded onto the kindle. This only makes Bart assume that Maggie actually gave him the gift, but Lisa is passing it off as her own.